JET ENGINES

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Water jet
Description
For propelling boats; squirts water out the back through a
nozzle
Advantages
Can run in shallow water, high acceleration, no risk of
engine overload (unlike propellers), less noise and vibration,
highly maneuverable at all boat speeds, high speed
efficiency, less vulnerable to damage from debris, very
reliable, more load flexibility, less harmful to wildlife
Disadvantages
Can be less efficient than a propeller at low speed, more
expensive, higher weight in boat due to entrained water, will
not perform well if boat is heavier than the jet is sized for
Motorjet
Description
Most primitive air breathing jet engine. Essentially a
supercharged piston engine with a jet exhaust

All of the jet engines used in currently manufactured

commercial jet aircraft are turbofans. They are used
commercially mainly because they are highly efficient and
relatively quiet in operation. Turbofans are also used in
many military jet aircraft.
Low-bypass Turbofan
Description
One- or two-stage fan added in front bypasses a proportion
of the air through a bypass chamber surrounding the core.
Compared with its turbojet ancestor, this allows for more
efficient operation with somewhat less noise. This is the
engine of high-speed military aircraft, some smaller private
jets, and older civilian airliners such as the Boeing 707, the
McDonnell Douglas DC-8, and their derivatives
Advantages
As with the turbojet, the design is aerodynamic, with only a
modest increase in diameter over the turbojet required to
accommodate the bypass fan and chamber. It is capable of
supersonic speeds with minimal thrust drop-off at high
speeds and altitudes yet still more efficient than the turbojet
at subsonic operation
Disadvantages

Advantages
Higher exhaust velocity than a propeller, offering better
thrust at high speed
Disadvantages

Noisier and less efficient than high-bypass turbofan, with

less static (Mach 0) thrust. Added complexity to
accommodate dual shaft designs. More inefficient than a
turbojet around M2 due to higher cross-sectional area

Heavy, inefficient and underpowered. Examples include:

Coand-1910 and Caproni Campini N.1
Turbojet

High-bypass Turbofan
Description

Advantages

First stage compressor drastically enlarged to provide

bypass airflow around engine core, and it provides
significant amounts of thrust. Compared to the low-bypass
turbofan and no-bypass turbojet, the high-bypass turbofan
works on the principle of moving a great deal of air
somewhat faster, rather than a small amount extremely
fast. Most common form of jet engine in civilian use todayused in airliners like the Boeing 747, most 737s, and all
Airbus aircraft

Simplicity of design, efficient at supersonic speeds (~M2)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Quieter due to greater mass flow and lower total exhaust

speed, more efficient for a useful range of subsonic
airspeeds for same reason, cooler exhaust temperature.
Less noisy and exhibit much better efficiency than low
bypass turbofans

Description
A tube with a compressor and turbine sharing a common
shaft with a burner in between and a propelling nozzle for
the exhaust. Uses a high exhaust gas velocity to produce
thrust. Has a much higher core flow than bypass type
engines

A basic design, misses many improvements in efficiency and

power for subsonic flight, relatively noisy
Turbofan

Disadvantages
A turbofan is a type of jet engine, similar to a turbojet. It
essentially consists of a large ducted fan with a smaller
diameter turbojet engine mounted behind it that provides
propulsion and also powers the fan. Part of the airstream
from the ducted fan passes through the turbojet, providing
oxygen to burn fuel to power the turbojet. But part, usually
most, of the flow bypasses the turbojet, and is accelerated
by turbine blades acting like a propeller. The combination of
these two processes produces thrust more efficiently than
other jet designs.[1]
A few designs work slightly differently and have the fan
blades as a radial extension of an aft-mounted low-pressure
turbine unit.
Turbofans have a net exhaust speed that is much lower than
a turbojet. This makes them much more efficient at subsonic
speeds than turbojets, and somewhat more efficient at
supersonic speeds up to roughly Mach 1.6.

Greater complexity (additional ducting, usually multiple

shafts) and the need to contain heavy blades. Fan diameter
can be extremely large, especially in high bypass turbofans
such as the GE90. More subject to FOD and ice damage. Top
speed is limited due to the potential for shockwaves to
damage engine. Thrust lapse at higher speeds, which
necessitates huge diameters and introduces additional drag
Rocket
Description
Carries all propellants and oxidants on-board, emits jet for
propulsion
Advantages
Very few moving parts, Mach 0 to Mach 25+, efficient at
very high speed (> Mach 10.0 or so), thrust / weight ratio
over 100, no complex air inlet, high compression ratio, very
high speed (hypersonic) exhaust, good cost / thrust ratio,
fairly easy to test, works in a vacuum-indeed works best
exoatmospheric which is kinder on vehicle structure at high

speed, fairly small surface area to keep cool, and no turbine

in hot exhaust stream
Disadvantages
Needs lots of propellant- very low specific impulse
typically 100-450 seconds. Extreme thermal stresses of
combustion chamber can make reuse harder. Typically
requires carrying oxidizer on-board which increases risks.
Extraordinarily noisy
Ramjet
Description
Intake air is compressed entirely by speed of oncoming air
and duct shape (divergent), and then it goes through a
burner section where it is heated and then passes through a
propelling nozzle
Advantages
Very few moving parts, Mach 0.8 to Mach 5+, efficient at
high speed (> Mach 2.0 or so), lightest of all air-breathing
jets (thrust / weight ratio up to 30 at optimum speed),
cooling much easier than turbojets as no turbine blades to
cool
Disadvantages
Must have a high initial speed to function, inefficient at slow
speeds due to poor compression ratio, difficult to arrange
shaft power for accessories, usually limited to a small range
of speeds, intake flow must be slowed to subsonic speeds,
noisy, fairly difficult to test, finicky to keep lit
Turboprop (Turboshaft similar)
Description
Strictly not a jet at all a gas turbine engine is used as a
powerplant to drive a propeller shaft (or rotor in the case of
a helicopter)
Advantages
High efficiency at lower subsonic airspeeds (300 knots plus),
high shaft power to weight
Disadvantages
Limited top speed (airplanes), somewhat noisy, complex
transmission
Propfan / Unducted Fan
Description
Turbojet engine that also drives one or more propellers.
Similar to a turbofan without the fan cowling
Advantages
Higher fuel efficiency, potentially less noisy than turbofans,
could lead to higher-speed commercial aircraft, popular in
the 1980s during fuel shortages
Disadvantages
Development of propfan engines has been very limited,
typically noisier than turbofans, complexity
Pulsejet
Description
Air is compressed and combusted intermittently instead of
continuously. Some designs use valves
Advantages
Very simple design, commonly used on model aircraft
Disadvantages
Noisy, inefficient (low compression ratio), works poorly on a
large scale, valves on valved designs wear out quickly

Pulse detonation engine

Description
Similar to a pulsejet, but combustion occurs as a detonation
instead of a deflagration, may or may not need valves
Advantages
Maximum theoretical engine efficiency

Disadvantages
Extremely noisy, parts subject to extreme mechanical
fatigue, hard to start detonation, not practical for current
use
Air-augmented rocket
Description
Essentially a ramjet where intake air is compressed and
burnt with the exhaust from a rocket
Advantages
Mach 0 to Mach 4.5+ (can also run exoatmospheric), good
efficiency at Mach 2 to 4
Disadvantages
Similar efficiency to rockets at low speed or exoatmospheric,
inlet difficulties, a relatively undeveloped and unexplored
type, cooling difficulties, very noisy, thrust / weight ratio is
similar to ramjets
Scramjet
Description
Similar to a ramjet without a diffuser; airflow through the
entire engine remains supersonic
Advantages
Few mechanical parts, can operate at very high Mach
numbers (Mach 8 to 15) with good efficiencies
Disadvantages
Still in development stages, must have a very high initial
speed to function (Mach >6), cooling difficulties, very poor
thrust / weight ratio (~2), extreme aerodynamic complexity,
airframe difficulties, testing difficulties / expense
Turborocket
Description
A turbojet where an additional oxidizer such as oxygen is
added to the airstream to increase maximum altitude
Advantages
Very close to existing designs, operates in very high
altitude, wide range of altitude and airspeed
Disadvantages
Airspeed limited to same range as turbojet engine, carrying
oxidizer like LOX can be dangerous. Much heavier than
simple rockets
Precooled jets / LACE
Description
Intake air is chilled to very low temperatures at inlet in a
heat exchanger before passing through a ramjet and / or
turbojet and / or rocket engine
Advantages
Easily tested on ground. Very high thrust / weight ratios are
possible (~14) together with good fuel efficiency over a
wide range of airspeeds, mach 0-5.5+; this combination of
efficiencies may permit launching to orbit, single stage, or
very rapid, very long distance intercontinental travel
Disadvantages
Exists only at the lab prototyping stage. Examples include
RB545, SABRE, ATREX. Requires liquid hydrogen fuel which
has very low density and heavily insulated tankage